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The first verse of Psalm 150 calls believers to worship God “in his sanctuary; . . . in his mighty heavens.” When the faithful worshiped at God’s holy place in Jerusalem, they briefly entered His mighty heavens. This happens also in New Testament worship. Even when early Christians met in homes (Rom. 16:3–5), worship temporarily transformed these locations into “the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22–24). Believers meet with God in particular places to engage in worshipful activities—they pray, listen to God’s Word, and sing His praise.
But as critical as gathered worship is, our whole lives should praise the Lord. No matter where we are, we can worship Him “in his sanctuary” and “in his mighty heavens.” By faith, God has already “seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6; see Col. 3:1).
Redeemed people don’t bring offerings to a worship service only occasionally; we are the offerings (Rom. 12:1). So in our whole lives, we should resemble Christ, “our chief prophet and teacher . . . ; our only high priest . . . ; and our eternal king,” as the Heidelberg Catechism calls Him (Q&A 31). When we come to faith, we share in Christ’s calling. In Him, we are prophets; when we acknowledge Jesus before others, especially under pressure, we are praising God (Matt. 10:32; Heb. 13:15). We are also priests. Christ fulfilled the Old Testament priesthood when He offered Himself as the only atoning sacrifice. But in Him, we are priests who pray for the salvation of sinners and use our whole lives to thank God (1 Peter 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6). And we are kings. Like any good leader, we cannot be passive. We must “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Tim. 6:12), resisting sin and Satan, and trusting that those who overcome will one day sit enthroned with Jesus (Rev. 3:21).
Believers take their primary calling—to be prophets, priests, and kings—into everything we do. To live this way, we must trust Christ and live to adorn God’s reputation. We are not our own; we have been bought by Jesus’ precious blood (1 Cor. 6:19–20). Everything we do must be “to the glory of God” (10:31). And we must apply this right perspective to valid ventures, projects in which we steward God’s world in submission to Him and in loving service to others. Finally, we must labor faithfully. The way we work in our various roles should show that we are profoundly thankful to God. We are to do all our activities “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17).
To worship God with our whole lives, we should strive to live according to the prayer of hymn writer Horatius Bonar:
Fill thou my life, O Lord my God,
in ev’ry part with praise,
that my whole being may proclaim
thy being and thy ways.Not for the lip of praise alone,
nor e’en the praising heart,
I ask, but for a life made up
of praise in ev’ry part.